Fleet Feet takes Beach to Bay Relay Marathon

CORPUS CHRISTI - The tradition for many is just to continue to run in the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon every year. Winning it is quickly becoming Fleet Feet Elite 1's annual tradition.

For the third time in four years, that Texas A&M-Corpus Christi-based team won Beach to Bay.

The team retained its title Saturday by finishing the 26.2-mile relay marathon in two hours, 17 minutes and 42 seconds, which was eight seconds off last year's winning time. Fleet Feet Elite 1 — comprised of Shadrack Songok, Daniel Barlow, Erik Burciaga, Christoph Hintz, J.R. Pulido and Justin Adame — finished four minutes faster than runner-up Fleet Feet International (2:21.30), also from Corpus Christi. V Fit Endurance (2:25.58) placed third to give Corpus Christi an impressive 1-2-3 finish in the team standings.

A San Antonio-based team, Six Pack Elite, won the Women's Division in 2:44.53.

Four of the runners from last year's Fleet Feet Elite 1 team — Barlow, Burciaga, Pulido and Songok — returned this year to post back-to-back victories in this 37th annual relay marathon once dominated by San Antonio-based teams.

The team is made up of current and former Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's track and cross country runners.

When one runner leaves the Coastal Bend area, like former King High School standout Ari Perez (who moved to the Dallas area), another is there to take his place like Adame, who is a current Islanders sophomore runner and a former Carroll High School track and cross country standout.

Adame, who anchored this year's team, said he was so focused on finishing the race that he didn't even notice members of the King High School band playing the "Rocky" theme song on the trumpet as he crossed the finish line.

"I've been competing in this off and on since third grade, so for us to win it; It's awesome," the 20-year-old Adame said. "It's great to see all of our hard work pay off."

Songok, Barlow, Burciaga and Hintz helped Fleet Feet Elite 1 overcome an early deficit by combining to give it a one-minute lead on its nearest competitor. Pulido, who ran the fifth leg, then helped push that advantage to 1 ½ minutes and the team cruised from there.

"We kind of knew that we were going to win from the start," said the Islanders' senior Barlow, who ran the second leg after anchoring last year's team. "Teams try to beat us all of the time, telling us that they're bringing up so and so (to run this year), but we knew we had a solid team."

The A&M-Corpus Christi freshman runner, Hintz, competed in his first Beach to Bay, as he ran the fourth leg.

Hintz, from Germany, already is looking forward to next year's event.

"I think we can do it," Hintz said of a three-peat next year. "We are all strong athletes and are all pretty fast. There is no (reason) why we can't win it again next year."

"We're definitely going to try to come back every year and keep this going," added Adame.